How to Prepare for Your Coffee Shop Grand Opening

How to Prepare for Your Coffee Shop Grand Opening

Coffee Shop Grand Opening

How to Prepare for Your Coffee Shop Grand Opening

Congratulations! If you are reading this, you are probably close to opening up your coffee business within the next several months.

By now, you’ve done much work to get to this point. You’ve found the right location, you’ve picked a coffee business concept that works for you, you’ve developed your coffee shop budget, you have chosen and purchased your coffee equipment, and you've done any number of other essential things for your particular coffee shop business.

Now, your sights are set on your coffee shop's grand opening.

This really is exciting!

But there is still some important work to do. Your coffee business still needs a few essential things before you’ll be ready to open your doors.

Your coffee shop's grand opening might be among the last elements in your coffee shop business planning – but it’s just as important.

After all, having a successful coffee shop grand opening can make all the difference between a slow start with lagging sales to high volume customer visits and profits.

Getting ready for your grand opening should be a fun and happy experience that plays into your marketing strategy. 

So, let’s get started and talk about how you can better prepare for your grand opening and make sure that your coffee shop opens successfully.

Off to a Great Start

Why Your Coffee Shop Grand Opening is Important

You have worked hard to start a coffee shop. Your coffee shop's grand opening is your statement to the community: “Welcome to our coffee business – which is now open and ready to serve you the most delicious coffee in the area!”

This is the final stage of your coffee shop planning before you launch, which will determine how your future customers will perceive you and your business.

A coffee shop grand opening aims to create a social buzz and excitement – you want people to know about you and talk about you and the services you provide. You want to create loyal and repeat customers, followers, and enthusiastic marketers for your coffee business.

Although not everyone will attend your event, it’s important that those who actually do tell their friends and relatives about a brand-new coffee shop in town. Consider this part of your “word-of-mouth” advertising; the grand opening is a good chance to do so without any significant marketing investment.

While raising your brand awareness, you are also building relationships with the community. By presenting yourself and your coffee business, you reach out to potential business partners, suppliers, public officials, and new customers. 

Collaborate With Your Neighbors

Before you set the date of your grand opening, collaborate with neighboring businesses by distributing your promotional materials there, and think of events you can organize together with them to support your community.

It’s a good idea to do a “soft opening” before you are actually ready to launch your coffee business. This will help you determine if your business is running smoothly – equipment is working, employees are doing what they should be doing, etc.

During the soft opening, you will also see if the Coffee Shop POS system you chose for your coffee shop is reliable enough, easy to use, and works for you.

During a soft opening, try to figure out and fix the problems that might occur while processing your POS system's orders. Give yourself at least a full week before you hold your actual coffee shop grand opening.

This is also a great chance to actually train your staff to work with a coffee shop POS system. You don’t want to deal with lags in your cafe POS system and angry customers during your grand opening or rush hour.

How to Prepare For Your Coffee Shop Grand Opening

Now that your dream coffee business is ready to be launched, we can just imagine how excited you are to cut the ribbon and let the customers in to try your coffee.

As you have already understood, planning is crucial at every stage of your business development. And your coffee shop's grand opening is no exception. Having a detailed plan for your grand opening increases your chances of creating a positive overall experience, maximizing attendance, awareness, and introductions to would-be customers to your business.

Your coffee shop's grand opening is how you make your first impression with your prospective customers. So, your goal is to make this impression positive and long-lasting. You want people to come back for a delightful experience. Perhaps you want to offer them a business card, flyer, or punch card with a free coffee or discounted doughnut or snacks?

There are a few things to keep in mind when planning your grand opening. We have selected the ten most important tips for your coffee shop's grand success.

Let's list them below:

Determine a Grand Opening Date (Let's Get Ambitious!)

You want to allow yourself some time to prepare: A good time is about 3-6 weeks before the actual grand opening day. This will be enough to make any final tweaks to your coffee shop and have all furniture and supplies in place. Make sure your grand opening doesn’t fall on a major holiday or public/sports event. Various coffee shop owners have proved that the best days for a grand opening are the middle of a working week, but you will have to determine what days work for you and your customers.

Plan on having a grand opening the entire day or for several days.  A grand opening can last weeks! While you should open early, perhaps the best time for any festivities is in the mid-morning and have it continued throughout the early evening when people are heading home and can drop by your coffee shop.

The bottom line: Determine the residents' habits (which you may have already looked at when counting customers before signing your lease.) and set the time that you believe is the most convenient for them.

Determine a Reasonable Grand Opening Budget

Suppose you have arrived at this point in starting a coffee shop; congratulations. We can assume that you know a thing or two about budgeting for a coffee shop.

A large number of experts suggest that you should dedicate about 20% of your first-year marketing budget toward your grand opening. This seems reasonable because it’s large enough to put the message out about a new business.

It’s also moderate enough to leave you with some marketing budget for the rest of the year and not break the proverbial bank.

If you are working on a shoestring budget, there are several different things that you can do to decrease your expenses.

Expenses may include printing out flyers, posters, invitations, and punch cards; paid online and offline promotions; decorations of your coffee shop (balloons, ribbons); food treats for your guests, freebies, and souvenirs (pens, T-shirts); entertainment program if you decide to invite musicians or a local celebrity to host your event.

Whatever route you decide to go, you first want to determine a reasonable budget that makes sense for you.

Hire Your Baristas Early

Hire your baristas well before you are ready for your grand opening. You want to choose people who are reliable and willing to learn. Baristas are the face of your business, so make sure you train and treat them adequately.

Ensure they provide superior service for your customers on the grand opening day and every day in general.  

This means you may want to take your time interviewing several baristas at least a month or two before you open. Ensure that you also have enough time to train your baristas. If you already have a date for your grand opening, you will want to secure the right people. Not having the right people or the right team when you open could be grounds for a delay until you get those baristas you feel comfortable with.

Get your Coffee Shop Website Up and Running

You need a website for a coffee shop. Developing your coffee shop website is among the most important things to do to build your online presence. This is especially true if you are a mobile coffee business. If you don’t have your website, you practically don’t exist.

Make sure you develop your coffee shop website in the early stages of your business planning and fill it with content that will help you both tell your unique story and promote your business online. Additionally, it can also help you sell any products or merchandise as well.

You might also want to have your coffee shop, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts active and engaging before you even set your grand opening date to engage a local audience.

Having a website can be a launching pad for your social media, blog, and grand opening. Having a website for your coffee shop can also help you sell merchandise, coffee, etc.

For more information, visit our article on how to set up an online coffee business. 

Consider a Coffee Shop “Soft Opening”

Your coffee shop's grand opening should have a soft opening. A soft opening is a chance to test the efficiency of your coffee shop operations. There’s a high chance that you will face some unexpected problems and kinks that you’ll be able to fix before the big day arrives.

You may want to limit the number of attendees by inviting only people from your closest circle and their friends for a soft opening. With a limited number of people, you might not need to be overwhelmed, and you can always take some time to jot down notes.

Additionally, you can ask those in attendance how they feel about your coffee or other items that you offer.

After your soft opening, sit down and think about any changes you might need to make. Ask your staff what they thought. Finally, ask your friends and family if they have any suggestions.

Take all these considerations and make any reasonable changes ahead of your “actual” ground opening. 

Reach Out to Local Newspapers, Bloggers, and Other Media

You want to start your promotion campaign in advance. Reach out to the local radio stations and newspapers and let them know about your coffee shop's grand opening date. If you are invited to talk about your business, tell the community about how unique your business is or highlight your coffee shop's vision.

Tell your story, push your brand, and deliver great coffee; you’ll do just fine when talking to others. If you have a budget for advertising, you may consider buying ads on Facebook or Instagram, targeting the audience that you believe is the most crucial for you.

Connect with your local trendsetters. These may include food and coffee bloggers, even those who write about fashion, art, or technology if this is somehow related to your business idea.

Choose a POS system for your Coffee Shop

Along with your coffee shop equipment, you’ll need a reliable Coffee Shop POS System. To make money, you’ll need an easy and safe way to do transactions.

Your coffee shop’s POS system, such as ShopKeep, should be more than just a cash register. It is an important piece of coffee shop equipment that you will use during every transaction. 

You want to choose a POS system that is reliable, secure, and easy to use and can process hundreds of transactions a day without going offline. Modern-day Cafe POS systems allow you to download sales reports, manage your inventory, employees and customers’ information, and even integrate with accounting software.

When you choose a POS system for your coffee shop, make sure that it can be customized to your particular business and work offline. You don’t want to be completely dependent on your connection to the internet all the time.

Here’s a more detailed article regarding our coffee shop POS system recommendation.

Ensure You’ve Got All The Permits

Do a final permit check.

You want your grand opening actually to be grand. Don’t forget that there are other offices, tenants, even schools or churches in the vicinity of your coffee business. You want to check with the public offices in your area about the restrictions or regulations you might face during your grand opening.

There might be restrictions regarding the level of noise, the size of the crowd, parking spaces. Don’t let your first day be the last one.

Additionally, double-check you’ve gotten the green light from your local building department, health department, fire department, or any other agency that your coffee business falls under.

Create Your Buzz: Make a Little Splash

Let's get that community buzz going! If your budget allows it, consider inviting a local band to your coffee shop's grand opening. Music always draws a crowd and can be a lot of fun, too. (Make sure to check if you need a permit).

It's also good to team up with a charity initiative to attract more people and fundraise for a good cause. Remember, you want people, you want community engagement, and you want to be memorable. 

Keep the Momentum Going After Your Coffee Shop Grand Opening

Build off your momentum. You may consider offer discounts or come-back incentives for those who visited your grand opening event. Distribute discount flyers or punch cards among the guests of your event.

If you had reduced pricing or special promotions during your grand opening, consider extending them for a week or so.

Make great shots of your grand opening event and send them along with a small press release to local media and bloggers.

Encourage your guests to share their impressions online on Yelp, Google Reviews, and social media.

Important Things to Remember For Your Coffee Shop Grand Opening

Simple is often best. When you open a coffee shop, things can get complicated really quickly. They also get expensive and often come with a lot of headaches. Sometimes, the simplest way is the best way. Apply this to your coffee shop grand opening as well.

Plan early and dedicate the necessary time. When opening a coffee shop, you may have 101 things to consider. Planning a grand opening is just one of them. We recommend that you plan early and provide yourself the necessary time that you will need to plan.

Get help. We all need help. Having a grand opening is important. But you can also something you can delegate 80% of the work to as well.

This might be a good time to “hire” one or two of your baristas early. Have them work 5 or 10 hours a week on doing such things as calling people. They could also email bloggers and media outlets. They could pass out fliers, contact local bands, buy balloons, streamers, and signs. You get the picture. Of course, you will want to make all the important decisions, sign the checks, purchase the items, etc.

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Ideas

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 1

Thematic Costume Party

People love to dress up and go out – not only on Halloween. Why not use this opportunity to have a costume challenge among your visitors? Of course, you will serve everyone who shows up. But you want to encourage your guests to dress up by announcing a contest for the best costume and offering valuable prizes. You also want to give an extra discount for those showing up in costumes.

Discover who your target market is and what topic they will like the most. A costume party is a wonderful idea because your visitors will generate some great photos for social media. This will help promote your coffee shop among their friends and followers.

If you decide to make a thematic party, find appropriate decorations that produce the feel of the decade or movie you choose as your theme.

Great themes for costume party:

• Movies – Star Wars, Great Gatsby, James Bond, etc.
• Various decades – 50’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s.
• Holidays – Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day, Valentine’s Day, etc.
• Seasons – spring floral, summer vibes, fall leaves, winter fairytale
• Cartoons – Alice in Wonderland, The Simpsons, Looney Tunes, etc.
• Superheroes – Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, etc.
• Venice Masquerade
• Black and White
• Hawaiian – Beach & Surfer Party
• Cycling Theme – Bring your bikes, trikes, and unicycles!

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 2

Live Music Concert or DJ party

Free music events attract plenty of visitors every single time. It’s also a great way to attract new customers to your coffee shop. The sounds of music will attract passers-by and other people who didn’t know about your grand opening but decided to come in and enjoy the celebration with a cup of great coffee.

You want to find local musicians or DJ’s who already have some following. This way, you can expect more people to visit your coffee shop because their fans will show up too. Agree with the musicians on the type of music, the hours, the date, and price in advance. You don’t want any surprises at your grand opening!

Be sure to check if you need a permit to have music and notify your neighbors in advance and invite them!

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 3

Charity Fundraising Event

Many people are willing to spend an extra dollar for a good cause. Think of a charitable event that is important for your community. You might want to support local schools, sports teams, green initiatives, organizations that take care of homeless pets, or any other initiatives that make sense for you and your future customers.

Contact charity organizations and offer them your space during your grand opening event. Such organizations often have a scenario or program for their events. This is a mutually beneficial collaboration. You help to raise money, build stronger relationships with your community, and promote yourself among your future customers.

Often you might want to combine a live music concert and a charitable event on your grand opening day.

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 4

Modern Art Exhibition

The chances are high that your community is full of talented and creative people who want to show their artwork or photography to the public. Why don’t you combine your coffee shop grand opening with a modern art exhibition opening! Art always creates added value for any business and attracts many people who are willing to pay the price of a cappuccino to visit an exhibition.

If your coffee shop space allows hosting an exhibition, approach several local artists or photographers with this suggestion. This grand opening idea won’t cost you a lot of money – some artists struggle to find an exhibition space and will be very happy that you offer your coffee shop space. If you want, you might want to add an auction on your grand opening day so that people can buy their artwork.

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 5

Develop a Stunt Event

A publicity stunt is a trendy trick that allows you to reach as many people as possible. For example, you might want to have your grand opening at a sporting event and give out coupons for everyone entering the event. You can also treat the participants with your coffee and pastries.

The idea of a stunt event is to get as much public attention as you can. You might consider hiring an actor who dresses in a human-size coffee cup suit and hands out leaflets, organizes a singing flash mob, or has fireworks or a little parade down your street.

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 6

Community Event

If you do your research well, you can set your grand opening day at a community event like a farmers’ market, community fair, or local church or school event. Community events are always full of locals. This will ensure your access to potential customers who can try your delicious coffee and pastries.

If you decide to hold your grand opening at a community event, you should bring your pop-up tents, portable tables, merchandise, as well as coupons, and discount flyers to hand out.

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 7

Free Coffee Fair Event

You should consider offering a free coffee education event to attract more potential customers. Many coffee lovers in your community want to know more about coffee and sample the roasts that you will offer in your coffee shop. Talk about your own story, show some coffee documentaries, and invite coffee roasters or other coffee experts to talk about coffee origins or flavors. Have a coffee-tasting event and a barista throw-down. Organize masterclasses to brew coffee with a Chemex or how to make specialty drinks at home. You can have a free all-day event that will attract coffee lovers from your community and beyond.

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 8

Announce a Contest

Many people get excited when they know they can win a prize. In your case, it can be any items of your merchandise, bags of coffee, boxes of pastries, money coupons, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Let your guests know that everyone who buys something at your grand opening event and enrolls in your loyalty program has a chance to win a valuable prize. Depending on the number of prizes you allocate for your grand opening, you can randomly select a winner every 1 or 2 hours and award a prize. Play some music, invite interesting guests – let your visitors have fun at your coffee shop grand opening.

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 9

Block Party

If your coffee shop business is located close to other businesses, you might want to collaborate with them for your grand opening event. It will be awesome if another business has a grand opening on the same day. A block party allows you and your neighbors to exchange audiences, have more sales, and create more buzz.

A bright block party will attract passers-by and customers from nearby stores. You might also want to offer coffee samples and hand out your coffee shop flyers at neighboring businesses.

Coffee Shop Grand Opening Idea # 10

Invite Local Celebrities

People want to go where local celebrities or social media influencers are. It doesn’t have to be an MTV star. You can invite a local TV or radio host, local sports athlete, politician, or writer. Be sure to notify local coffee bloggers – it’s a great time to introduce yourself to the local media. If a celebrity has a following in your community, they will help bring more people into your coffee shop during and after your grand opening.

If some celebrities or influencers can’t attend your event, you should still send them a nice invitation and a small bag of goodies and samples so that they can promote your coffee shop through their social media accounts.

Dreaming of Starting a Coffee Shop?

Starting a coffee shop or opening a coffee stand business can be a thrilling adventure and a profitable enterprise.

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We also offer our Complete Coffee Shop Startup Kit, a coffee business guide resource like no other. With over 15 hours of audio interviews and 600 pages, our complete kit is an excellent way to get started.

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Based in Seattle, Washington, USA, Coffee Shop Startups is dedicated to providing you with the most relevant information on how to start a coffee shop business successfully. Over the last 11 years, we've helped thousands of aspiring coffee business owners worldwide. We harness the experience, wisdom, and knowledge of many successful coffee shop owners to help you increase your chances of success and profits. We support business owners who want to start a coffee business by providing them with valuable information on starting their coffee business successfully.